Obama Stumbles in Berlin Speech Without Teleprompter

MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews, who famously said he felt a thrill up his leg listening to Barack Obama speak in 2008, is now blaming a lackluster speech Wednesday by the U.S. president in Berlin on the sun.

“I think a lot of the problem he had today was the late afternoon sun in Berlin ruined his use of the teleprompter and so his usual dramatic windup was ruined,” Matthews said moments after the address. “I think he was really struggling with the text there.”

Online commenters are having a field day with Matthews’ remark, with comments such as, “Five years into his presidency, even sychophants like Chris Matthews know they can no longer blame Bush. So starting here, starting now, it becomes official: It’s the sun’s fault.”

Meanwhile, radio giant Rush Limbaugh chimed in Wednesday on Obama’s continued reliance on a teleprompter, claiming it’s to make sure Obama “doesn’t wander off and give up the game.”

“If you’ve noticed, he’s lost without that prompter and I know why,” Limbaugh explained on his national radio broadcast.

“I know why he’s always on prompter. And that is to make sure he doesn’t slip up and portray what he really thinks and what his plans really are. It’s so Obama stays confined in the way that he has been marketed and presented … .

“It’s all about Obama appearing detached, unattached. It’s all about disguising what Obama’s real intentions are. With no prompter and no discipline, he might actually let it slip what his real plans are, and that would be devastating. The fact of the matter is that most liberals cannot be honest with you about what they really hope happens or what they want to happen or what they really intend to do.”